Chemical warfare agents, such as the nerve agents GB and VX, pose a toxic and persistent hazard to conventional military forces and possibly to civilian populations. These chemical warfare agents are potentially employed as a tactical or terror weapon in various military scenarios, such as being deployed in military actions for effective terrain denial, using a variety of dissemination mechanisms including grenades, mortars, mines, rockets, bombs, long-range projectiles, and missiles.
A chemical agent detector has been developed for detecting a variety of chemical warfare agent vapors or gases, e.g., non-persistent nerve vapors, blood gases, and liquid blister agents. An example of a chemical agent detector for detecting a variety of chemical warfare agent vapors or gases is an M256A1 Chemical Agent Detector Kit. A chemical agent detector for detecting solid, liquid, or vapor chemical hazards has also been developed. An example of such a detector is an M256 LVHD (Low Volatility Hazard Detector), which is a standard M256A1 Chemical Agent Detector, modified to include low volatility liquid and solid sampling and detection. In particular, the M256 LVHD includes a sample heater assembly that can be used with an M256A1 Chemical Agent Detector to effectively vaporize one or more low volatility agents for detection thereof. The M256A1 and the M256 LVHD are described in Department of the Army Technical Manual, TM 3-6665-307-10, titled An Operators Manual for Chemical Agent Detector Kit, M256 (6665-01-016-8399) and M256A1 (6665-01-133-4964), September 1985, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. One problem with these detectors is they cannot distinguish between classes within the nerve agent family, e.g., between G-type nerve agents and V-type nerve agents.